Separable button



(No Model.)

B. PRINGLE.

SEPARABLE BUTTON.

No. 573,532. Patented Dec. 22, 1896.

Tn! norms mm on. mam-54mm wwmcmn. o. z;

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE EUGENE PRINGLE, OF GLOVERSVILLE, NEIV YORK,ASSIGNOR TO MADISON D. SHIPMAN AND CHARLES E. BRADT, OF DE KALB,ILLINOIS.

SEPARABLE BUTTON.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 573,532, dated December,22, 1896.

' Application filed March 20, 1888. Serial No. 267,862. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Beitknown that I, EUGENE PRINGLE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Gloversville, in the county of Fulton and State of New York,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in separable Buttons,of which the following is a specification. Y

My invention relates to separable buttons; and it consists in thedevices or elements and To combination of devices and elementshereinafter particularly described, and specifically set forth in theclaims; and the objects of my invention are to provide in a separablebutton a button-head which will be strong, du- .rable, and simple in itsparts; also, to provide in the button-head stud-holding devices whichwill engage with a stud by its annular grooves or depressions holdingwith the angular flanges of a slitted stud-receiving tube; also, toprovide in the button-head dual studholding devices which will engagewith the stud at two points in its length; also, to provide in the heada support to the stud-receiving tube which also operates to turn theclenching end of the eyelet-fastener; also, to provide in a separablebutton a stud having two engaging grooves or contractions in'its stemportion projecting from the fabric, whereby the stud will be adapted toengage with a head 0 of a separable button having two correspondingcatching devices; further, to produce means by which the stud will besecurely fastened to the fabric with the latter tightly clamped, whetherthe material be thick or 3 5 thin or of varying thickness. I attainthese objects by the means illustrated in the accompanying drawings,forming a part of this specification, in which Figure 1 is a sectionalelevation of the button-head and stud parts of my improved separablebutton with said parts secured to the material and illustrating myinvention. Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the button-head embodying someof the improvements in this in- 5 vention. Fig. 3 is a sectional view ofone form of elastic stud-holding tube employed in the head. Fig. 4 is aplan view of the same. Fig. 5 is a sectional view of the piecesupporting the stud-receiving tube. Fig. 6 is a plan view of the same.Fig. 7-is a plan view of the head-closin g piece. Fig. 8 is a sectionalview of the same. Fig. 9 is a sectional view of the eyelet for fasteningthe head to the material. Fig. 10 is a plan view of the same. Fig. 11

is a sectional view of the stud and its preferred adjuncts for fasteningthe same to the material. Fig. 12 is a sectional view of thesame,illustratingmodifications of parts. Fig.

18 is a sectional view of a button-head containingastud-receiving tubeof modified form of construction with the second stud-holding deviceomitted. Fig. 14: is a sectional elevation of a modification of thestud-receiving tube. Fig. 15 is aplan view of the same. Fig.

16 is a sectional view of a button-head containing improvements in thisinvention and illustrating some of the parts thereof made with amodified form of construction. Fig.

17 is a sectional view of the stud-receiving tube and its coactingstud-holding device shown in Fig. 16. Fig. 18 is a view of the same fromits upper end. Fig. 19 is a seetional view of a separable button and itsengaging stud, both secured to the fabric and connected together. 7 5

The same letters of reference refer to similar parts throughout theseveral figures.

In the drawings, A represents the outershell-cup of the button, and B isthe lower side closing-piece, which is secured in place by the lowermargin edge a of the outer shell being clenched on the lower side of thelatter, as shown. This closing-piece is provided with a centralperforation b for receiving the lower end portion of the stud-receivingtube and also the clenching end of the tubular portion of afastening-eyelet, which clenches on the metal of the margin edge of saidperforation.

O is a stud-receiving tube contained partly 0 within the chamber of thepieces A and B, with its upper end sustained against the top wall ofpiece A and its lower end projecting to a short distance below the planeof the bottom of closing-piece B. This stud-receiv- 5' ing tube has madewith it, at some point in its length between its lower and upper ends,an annular concave form of shoulder c,whieh will be calculated to turnthe clenching end of an eyelet-fastener.

D is an eyelet for fastening thebutton-head to the upper side of thematerial and is shown IOO to have a clamping-flange portion cl andclenching-tube portion (1. This eyelet is shown in its normal condition,before being used to fasten the button-head to the fabric, in Fig. 9, inwhich the clamping-flange portion (1 is made to incline outwardly andupwardly as it is extended all around from the tube portion 61, asshown. Vhen the tube portion d of this eyelet is passed through thefabric and its clenching end has been passed over the contracted endportion of the studreceiving tube 0 and forced upward, so that its endwill enter the central perforation b in piece B and moving against theannular shoulder-surface c of the tube 0, the said end will be turnedoutwardly, so as to clench on the margin edge of the opening I) of pieceB, and thereby securely hold the button-head t0 the material. lVhen thematerial on which the button-head is clenched is thick, the flange d ofthe eyelet D will be forced from its original inclination to nearly ahorizontal line, as shown, while with thin material this originalinclination of the flange will be less reduced.

O is the stud-receivin g tube, which is made .with a length which isabout equal to the depth of the button head and the added thickness ofthe fabric. Its lower end portion is made with a diameter slightly lessthan that of the perforation Z) in the closingpiece 13, while its upperend portion is made with a larger diameter for receiving within it anauxiliary stud-holding piece, as E, and also for providing on theexterior of this studreceiving tube a suitable annular concave surface,as at c, for turning the clenching end of the tube portion of thefastening-eyelet on the margin edge around the central opening I) at theclosing-piece B.

E is the stud-holding piece, which is made elastic by having its sidewall slitted by one or more slits e, and it is provided with the annularinternal holdingfiange 6, made with its lower end as shown. Thisholding-flange is annular to the central perforation eiwhich is of adiameter a little less than that of the head of the coacting stud S, sothat when the bulge of the head of the stud has passed the internalholdingflange c the latter will spring back to its normal position andengage with the neck or groove 3 below the head of the stud, while thebody of the stud below the head will engage with the lower portion ofthe stud-receiving tube 0.

The stud-receiving tube 0 may have some of its portions varied in theirforms without omitting the essential features which it embodies, as itis evident that the lower end or portion of this tube may be made plainthroughout its length, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and hold with the bodyof the stud between its head and the fabric, as in Fig. 1, or the lowerend of the lower or contracted portion of the tube 0 may have made withit an annular form of lip, as lip 6 when said lower portion is slitted,as illustrated in Figs.

13 and 14, to render said portion elastic, so as to hold with the lowerone of two holding grooves or contractions in the stud, as illustratedin Fig. 19. The annular shoulder 0, serving as a means for turning theclenching end of the fastening-eyelet outwardly, can be located at anysuitable point in the length of the tube 0 and have its extension in alateral direction made to project more or less outward past the line ofthe wall of the contracted lower portion of said tube, as may bepreferred, or as the diameter or form of construction of the auxiliarystud-holding piece E may require. The upper end of this studreceivingtube may be turned inwardly to bind on the upper end edge of theauxiliary stud-holding tube E, as shown in the lefthand side of Fig. 1,or said upper end of said tube can be turned outwardly, as shown in theright-hand side of the same figure, to receive on it theoutwardly-turned flange of the piece E when provided, as shown in saidright-hand side of Fig. 1, or this upper end may be turned outwardly fora more extensive bearing on the shell A of the buttonhead, as shown inFig. 13, or the turning of the said upper end of said tube 0 may bewholly omitted, as shown in Fig. 2.

The stud-holdin g piece E is omitted in Figs. 13 and 14 from thestud-receiving tube 0, which is shown to have its lower portion slittedand provided with an annular inwardlyprojected lip c for holding with agroove made in the lower portion of the body of the stud. Yet in thisstud-receiving-tube C, in Figs. 13 and 14, is shown the annular concaveform of shoulder c, which is an essential element in this invention forturning outwardly the clenching end of the tube of the fastening-eyelet,as before described.

It is to be understood that the stud-holding piece E can be held fromshifting within the upper and enlarged portion of the chamber of thestud-receiving tube 0 by any of the means illustrated in the drawings orotherwise, as preferred.

S is a stud adapted to be used with the button-head above described.This stud is shown in Figs. 1 and 11 to be made shell form or hollow,while it is shown in Fig. 12 to be solid, but in both cases the flange Sof the stud is shown to have secured to it from its upper side thefastening-eyelet F. In Figs. 1 and 11 this eyelet is shown to be securedto the base of the stud by having the margin edge portion of its flangeS clenched on the margin edge of the flange of the washer F, while inFig. 12 the margin edge of the eyelet is shown to be clenched to themargin edge of the flange S of the stud, and in either case the centralupturned tubular portion f of this eyelet F is adapted to engage withthe tubular portion of the coacting eyelet, Figs. 11 and 12, whichclamps on the, upper side of the fabric, as shown in Fig. 1. Then thetubular por tion f of the eyelet F is made sufliciently long, it will beturned outwardly and be made to extend beneath the flange of washer Gand fold on the upper side of the margin of the fabric surrounding thehole receiving the tubular portions f of the eyelet F and clench harddown on the fabric when the two eyelets F and G are forced together.

The button-head is secured to the fabric by means of thefastening-eyelet D. (Shown in Figs. 1, 2, 13, 16 and 19.) This eyelet isshown in Fig. 9 with its normal form of flange (Z before being appliedto the fabric and button-head for securing the latter with the former.In the form shown in Fig. 9 the flange cl is made to be with an angularform of concave on its side toward the tube portion (Z for the purposesbefore described. The stud-fastening eyelet G, before referred to, isalso made to embody the same element of an angular concave form offlange, as shown and described as being an element in the eyelet D forsecuring the button-head to the fabric, and by the use of the element ofthe concave form of flange g in eyelet G the same advantages result of asecure holding of the stud with fabrics of dilfering thickness can behad as is had by the use of eyelet D for securing the button-head tofabrics of varying thicknesses.

lVhen the stud S has been passed through the material with the lips f ofthe eyelet F also passed through the material, the eyelet G will bepassed over the body of the stem of the stud with the inclined flange gof the same over the fabric and the tube G passing down within theupturned central lips f of eyelet F and between it and the concavesurface s of the stud, as shown in Figs. 1 and 19, and when force isapplied to crowd the base-flange of the stud and eyelet G toward eachother the end of tube g of eyelet G will be turned outwardly by theconcave surface s of the stud, so as to clench the said tube on theinner side of the central lip f, which latter lip will itself be turnedoutward from the stud and so as to clench on the material at the marginof its central perforation, and when the adjunctive parts of this studare set together the stud will have strong attachment with the fabric,and the lowermost stud engaging groove or contraction s will be producedfor engagement with the holding-piece opposite when connected with thebutton-head.

Although the auxiliary stud-holding piece E is shown in Figs. 1, 2, and19 to be separate, as a piece from the stud-receiving tube 0, yet it maybe made intergral with the same, as shown in Figs. 16 and 17. It is notessential in all cases to make both the lower portion of thestud-receiving tube 0 and that of the auxiliary stud-holding pieceelastic by means of slits, as described, as one of these devices, whenslitted and provided with an annular holding-lip for engagement with agroove of the stud, will cooperate with the lower terminal end of thestud-receiving tube; but it is to be understood that the lower endportion of the stud-receiving tube 0 can be provided with annularholdinglips a as shown in Figs. 13, 14, 15, and 19, when said lower endportion, including said lip, is slitted, as shown in Fig. 13, as suchslitted lip will engage with the lower groove at the base of the stud.

By these above-described improvements I am enabled to produce aseparable button which will be strong and readily attached to thefabric, while the connection of the stud with the button-head will bestronger than heretofore, because of the dual engagement of the said twoparts, and, further, by the secure holding of the stud from being cantedwhen a pulling strain is exerted on the fastening in a lateraldirection.

Having described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, 1s-

1. A button-head for a fastening device comprising an outer shell or capconnected to aninner closing-piece B having an inwardly-extendingannular flange and a central opening, a stud-catch within the cap, and aflanged eyelet passed through the material or fabric from the oppositeside into the cap and upset or clenched between the edge of the orificeof the closing-piece and the outer wall or surface of the stud-catch. 2.A post or stud for a separable button having a base-flange, a washerconnected to said flange and having an upturned neck surrounding aportion of the stud, and a fastening-eyelet passed over the head of thestud and clenched between the neck of the washer and the outer surfaceof the stud.

3. A button-head comprising a cap or shell containing a stud-catchhaving the catch-lips thereof turned down within itself, and said partssecured to the material, substantially as described.

4. A button-head comprising a cap or shell containing a stud-catchhaving the catch-lips thereof turned downward within its body and itslower end clenched to hold the parts to the material, substantially asdescribed.

5. In a separable button-stud the combination of a post as S having adepression or groove at or near its base-flange, a washer secured tosaid base-flange and havinga central upturned rim encircling said grooveor depression with a fastening-washer as G, having a neck g adapted tobe buried within the cavity at the base of the stud, thereby securingthe same to the fabric, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

EUGENE PRINGLE.

\Vitnesses WILLIAM F. SELKIRK, CHARLES SELKIRK.

IIO

